22 June 2005
The e-government drive is rapidly taking off with the benefits becoming evident for all to see, according to the divisional manager of the local e-government programme at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Speaking at the government computing conference in London, Julian Bowrey insisted that most local authorities will have their services online by the start of 2006, with on average 98 per cent e-enablement by the end of the programme.
"I think the e-government project is on course," he said. "We are seeing a real change in the way local authorities provide services.
"We are seeing real benefits. We are seeing increasingly efficient, effective and popular local services as a result of our investment in e-government."
Despite this, Mr Bowrey was quick to draw attention to the work that needs doing to encourage public take-up of e-services which has until now disappointed.
"We have a big challenge," he added. "Most people are willing and interested in doing government services online but the truth is they don't.
"A lot of that is because they don't know that we do this. Local authorities are not very good at marketing their services and certainly not very good at marketing their e-services."
He concluded that this issue must be addressed before the e-government programme is completed and groups must make more of an effort to get through to public comprehension.© DeHavilland Information Services plc
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